Preview: A Grave With No Name ‘Passover’

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A Grave With No Name, the project of multi-instrumentalist & songwriter Alexander Shields is announcing his new album ‘Passover‘, set for release Jan 19thvia Forged Artifacts. The first single from the record “Wreath” is streaming online now.

In the words of Shields: “‘Wreath’ is exploration of the relationship between humanity and the land which we inhabit. Whereas nature once provided mankind with a source of spirituality, education and sustenance, it has now been tamed, despoiled and commodified, and is used to justify the waging of wars, prejudice, and greed. The song asks for a moral awakening, and a return to a simpler, more considered way of living.”

For some years now A Grave With No Name has been mining a distinctive vein of haunted art-rock, to spellbinding effect. His sixth album ‘Passover’ is his most most vital and poetic release to date, presenting the artist’s wide-ranging musical approaches so far, and forging skillful, at times surprising, new sounds from those unique textures.

Shields wrote the songs, which he describes as a set of “interlocking short-stories”, during a stay in his family home in the wake of his grandmother’s death – a home he shared with her throughout his young life. As such, a spectral presence makes itself known throughout ‘Passover’, with themes such as the mortality of loved ones, and returning to the bosom of the family being explored, alongside a burning questioning of the comforts of religion and ceremony, and our attempts to reconcile the elemental with the domestic.

Whereas previous records such as 2014’s ‘Feathers Wet, Under the Moon’ saw him working with a large ensemble of players including members of Lambchop, Silver Jews, and guitarist William Tyler, ‘Passover’ reflects its intimate themes by pairing Shields with childhood friend, drummer Daniel Paton, and brings aboard bassist Ben Reed who worked on Frank Ocean’s ‘blond(e)’ and ‘Endless’ albums. Recording once again at London’s Holy Mountain studios with producer Misha Hering, Shields creates meticulously crafted tapestries by weaving field recordings, and ambient sounds through the looms of melodic tape-warped country-rock (“By the Water’s Edge”, “Wreath”), haunted skeletal folk (“Hot Blood“, “Hunter“) and lonesome string ballads (“Wren“).

A culmination of all that came before it, yet a singular achievement in its ambition and scope, ‘Passover’ makes a remarkable addition to an already fascinating catalogue.